1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stacking and forwarding apparatus for stacking works supplied one after another and forwarding them, and more particularly, to a packing machine adapted to pack works, such as cigarette packs, into one box, such that the works are arranged in two rows, stacked one on the other, each consisting of 5 works.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional apparatus of this kind is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 62-126035. In this apparatus, two parallel belts 51 transfer works W, such as cigarette packs, one by one into a divided section 52, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. The section 52 is provided with a lower receiving portion 52a and an upper receiving portion 52b. After the first work W is transported into the lower receiving portion 52a, as shown in FIG. 1, the divided section 52 moves downward, whereby the second work W is guided into the upper receiving portion 52b, and simultaneously, the first work is pushed from the lower receiving portion 52b into a stacking section 54 by a pushing member 53a, as shown in FIG. 2. Then, as is shown in FIG. 3, the divided section 52 and the stacking section 54 move upward, whereby the second work is pushed from the upper receiving portion 52b by a pushing member 53b located above the pushing member 53a, onto the first work located on the stacking section 54, and at the same time the third work W is received in the lower receiving portion 52a. The first and second works W stacked on the stacking member 54 are pushed out by a send-out member 55, as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, the works W supplied one by one on a continuous basis are forwarded in a stacked state.
In the conventional apparatus, to stack the works, the divided section 52 is moved up and down, and the pushing member 53a and 53b are moved back and forth. Consequently, the stacking operation cannot be performed at high speed. In particular, the reciprocation of the divided section 52 makes high-speed stacking difficult.